Mark Clattenburg Quits job as a Premier League referee.

Agent Coulson

Mark Clattenburg: Premier League official to quit to take up job in Saudi Arabia

Mark Clattenburg is to quit his job as a Premier League referee to take up a position in Saudi Arabia.

The 41-year-old is widely considered to be one of the best referees in football, and he took charge of the Euro 2016 final, the Champions League final and the FA Cup final last season.

In December, Clattenburg said he would consider officiating in China.

He is expected to leave his role before the next round of Premier League fixtures which starts on 25 February.

The referee body, Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) said he had been "a great asset" and "an inspiration to those who want to get into refereeing".

Its statement added: "We understand this is an exciting opportunity for Mark, and it further underlines the high esteem for English match officials throughout the world game."

Clattenburg took charge of his first Football League game as a 25-year-old in 2000. Four years later, he was promoted to the Premier League's Select Group.

Unusually for a match official, public attention has often been drawn to his life off the pitch.

In 2008, Clattenburg was suspended following an investigation into allegations he owed £60,000 as a result of a failed business venture, and he later had his elite referee status revoked.

But at an appeal in February 2009, his punishment was reduced to an eight-month suspension, backdated to August 2008.

In October 2014, he was dropped from officiating for two breaches of protocol - speaking on the phone with then-Crystal Palace boss Neil Warnock, before leaving a ground alone to drive to an Ed Sheeran concert.

PGMOL says officials must travel to and from the ground together for integrity and security.

And last summer he got two tattoos to commemorate refereeing the Euro 2016 and Champions League finals, and the Guardian reported he had a car with the registration plate: 'C19TTS'.

In an interview with Associated Press in December, he said he did not understand why "people see [the tattoos] as a negative thing", adding: "I'm proud of what I've done."

More to follow.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38993655?ns_mchannel=social&ns_campaign=bbc_sport&ns_source=facebook&ns_linkname=sport

hullaballoo

As a Chelsea fan, I'm delighted.

As an EPL fan, I despair for the standard of refereeing in the league that will follow from this.

maximoose

and the Guardian reported he had a car with the registration plate: 'C19TTS'.

What am I missing here

RayCon

Celebrity bleedin Refs :rolleyes:. Ask me hole.

Agent Coulson

Time for the PL to pay up and go out and head hunt the best referees from around the world.


The richest league in the world can easily afford to bring in 10 to 20 referees and pay them well.

Agent Coulson

maximoose wrote: »

What am I missing here

Clatts.

Personalised number plate.

GavRedKing

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Time for the PL to pay up and go out and head hunt the best referees from around the world.


The richest league in the world can easily afford to bring in 10 to 20 referees and pay them well.

If that was the case they would have paid Clattenburg more and encouraged him to stay.

GavRedKing

Just another thing, as hes gone from UEFAs jurisdiction, I'm assuming he'll no longer be in charge if UEFA qualifiers or Champions League matches?

Mr.Micro

There are a few more that should follow him......hopefully.

razorblunt

He needs to be careful of his hairdo, might not pass the ethical guidelines!

Any room for Mike Dean to get in the car with him?

Esse85

Bear Grylls can take his place.

mosstin

maximoose wrote: »

What am I missing here

*****

grumpymunster

hullaballoo wrote: »

As a Chelsea fan, I'm delighted.

As an EPL fan, I despair for the standard of refereeing in the league that will follow from this.

Delighted as well, there are a few decent refs Clattenburg was certainly not one of them for me.

Oat23

GavRedKing wrote: »

Just another thing, as hes gone from UEFAs jurisdiction, I'm assuming he'll no longer be in charge if UEFA qualifiers or Champions League matches?

Correct. Alan Kelly gave up the same opportunities when he left the FAI for the MLS.

Richard Hillman

grumpymunster wrote: »

Delighted as well, there are a few decent refs Clattenburg was certainly not one of them for me.

What???

He was clearly the highest ranked referee in Europe. This is why he was getting the Euro and Champions League Finals.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Richard Hillman wrote: »

What???

He was clearly the highest ranked referee in Europe. This is why he was getting the Euro and Champions League Finals.

He never should have been given another high profile game again after his tut tutting at Pepe diving in the Champions League final while not booking him for it.Terrible refereeing and he looked like a complete tool as well.

Harry Palmr

Bad news, as it means more Lee Mason! :mad:

Skylinehead

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Bad news, as it means more Lee Mason! :mad:

This is when Mike Dean strikes to assert his dominance.

GavRedKing

Jon Moss is hands down the most brutal ref in the league.

I dont even think its close.

I'd take Mike Dean in 100 games over Moss in charge of 1 game.

mosstin

Personally think refs do a phenomenal job given the circumstances: dealing with narcissistic egomaniacs, managers with anger issues, remarkable scrutiny during and after matches, baying masses and having only one chance to get the major decisions right, not fifty ****ing slow-mo replays which, even then, are inconclusive.
There are bad refs out there but not by design. No game without them - they deserve far more credit than having idiot savants like Robbie Savage question their intelligence and integrity.

grumpymunster

Richard Hillman wrote: »

What???

He was clearly the highest ranked referee in Europe. This is why he was getting the Euro and Champions League Finals.

For me he is a terrible ref which climaxed with his dreadful performance in the Chelsea v Spurs game last season. He makes Jon Moss look like Perluigi Collins.

Of course only my opinion

beggars_bush

no more soft penalties for liverpool then

Tom Mann Centuria

mosstin wrote: »

Personally think refs do a phenomenal job given the circumstances: dealing with narcissistic egomaniacs, managers with anger issues, remarkable scrutiny during and after matches, baying masses and having only one chance to get the major decisions right, not fifty ****ing slow-mo replays which, even then, are inconclusive.
There are bad refs out there but not by design. No game without them - they deserve far more credit than having idiot savants like Robbie Savage question their intelligence and integrity.

Don't think many people would use the term idiot savant in relation to Robbie Savage. Idiot maybe.

Mr.Nice Guy

The best refs are the ones that allow the game to flow as much as possible; the ones who don't make it about them, but about the action.

Now you're going to have a situation where the refs know if they can raise their profile to a high enough level then there is the potential for a money-spinning deal to take them to China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia etc. What is it that raises a ref's profile? Being practically invisible as the action takes precedence? No. Being all over the back pages, being all over the post-match interviews, being the talk of all the pundits, usually for controversial - and often wrong - calls.

I worry this is going to start a very bad trend.

KaiserGunner

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

The best refs are the ones that allow the game to flow as much as possible; the ones who don't make it about them, but about the action.

Now you're going to have a situation where the refs know if they can raise their profile to a high enough level then there is the potential for a money-spinning deal to take them to China, Qatar, Saudi Arabia etc. What is it that raises a ref's profile? Being practically invisible as the action takes precedence? No. Being all over the back pages, being all over the post-match interviews, being the talk of all the pundits, usually for controversial - and often wrong - calls.

I worry this is going to start a very bad trend.

Yeah was thinking that myself. I'd say a few of his colleagues would like to follow suit. There was a press conference held announcing Clattenburg joining the league earlier ffs.

Dirty Dingus McGee

grumpymunster wrote: »

For me he is a terrible ref which climaxed with his dreadful performance in the Chelsea v Spurs game last season. He makes Jon Moss look like Perluigi Collins.

Of course only my opinion

Is that that baldy Italian referee's long lost Irish cousin?

Andersonisgod

This isn't unheard of and you could gjo back to the last century to find examples of English referees going abroad (eg. to Argentina to improve the standard of officiating in that country). That being said, the more a referee becomes a mainstream personality the mote precarious their judgment becomes. That's not to mention the issue with England's best refs being tempted away to other countries thus leaving the pool to choose from not very deep.

grumpymunster

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Is that that baldy Italian referee's long lost Irish cousin?

yea from Cahirciveen I believe (damn you spell check)

5starpool

beggars_bush wrote: »

no more soft penalties for liverpool then

I'm sure you'll find plenty to whinge about still.

osarusan

Anthony Buttimer to replace him.

GLaDOS

osarusan wrote: »

Anthony Buttimer to replace him.

EPL fans think they know what bad refereeing looks like

adox

The standard of refereeing in England is at am all time low.

Clattenberg comes across as a dislikeable character as interested in raising his profile as he is about doing his job.

That he is widely regarded as one of the better refs in Europe tells you all you need to know about th current standard.

niallo27

adox wrote: »

The standard of refereeing in England is at am all time low.

Clattenberg comes across as a dislikeable character as interested in raising his profile as he is about doing his job.

That he is widely regarded as one of the better refs in Europe tells you all you need to know about th current standard.

I would tend to agree with you but the speed of the game and the amount of cheating that occurs it's getting nearly impossible to go through a game without making a fairly big mistake.

niallo27

niallo27 wrote: »

I would tend to agree with you but the speed of the game and the amount of cheating that occurs it's getting nearly impossible to go through a game without making a fairly big mistake.

Its like the argument that there are no longer great defenders...

The offside rule is more complex, fouls are much much softer and red cards are far easier to get.

ERG89

mosstin wrote: »

Personally think refs do a phenomenal job given the circumstances: dealing with narcissistic egomaniacs.....

Funny I'd describe some refs as being just that tbh. Clattenburg getting tattoos to commemorate officiating 2 finals says it all about his ego.
Too many of the PL ones have went on to have careers in the media. Peter Walton, Dermot Gallagher & Howard Webb all doing the same thing which just fills airtime. I can't think of many other leagues where you even know their names.

Vicxas

The problem is, do they have any other referees in the wings that are any way good?

bur

Agent Coulson wrote: »

Clatts.

Personalised number plate.

mosstin

ERG89 wrote: »

Funny I'd describe some refs as being just that tbh. Clattenburg getting tattoos to commemorate officiating 2 finals says it all about his ego.
Too many of the PL ones have went on to have careers in the media. Peter Walton, Dermot Gallagher & Howard Webb all doing the same thing which just fills airtime. I can't think of many other leagues where you even know their names.

I'd turn that around and say that you wouldn't know about it if there wasn't such microscopic scrutiny about everything they do. Why people are interested in what Clattenburg does off the pitch is beyond me. If he wants to get Fergie's face tattooed on his arse cheeks, that's his business.

eagle eye

mosstin wrote: »

I'd turn that around and say that you wouldn't know about it if there wasn't such microscopic scrutiny about everything they do. Why people are interested in what Clattenburg does off the pitch is beyond me. If he wants to get Fergie's face tattooed on his arse cheeks, that's his business.

Nevermind referees, I don't get why people are interested in what footballers do off the pitch.

mosstin

eagle eye wrote: »

Nevermind referees, I don't get why people are interested in what footballers do off the pitch.

I couldn't agree more but it's especially baffling when it's the guy in the middle people need to know about.

Dirty Dingus McGee

mosstin wrote: »

I couldn't agree more but it's especially baffling when it's the guy in the middle people need to know about.

I don't think people actually needed to know about it.It just happened to be reported by the media and it's gives an insight into the type of twat Clattenburg is.That's all there is to it really.

mosstin

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I don't think people actually needed to know about it.It just happened to be reported by the media and it's gives an insight into the type of twat Clattenburg is.That's all there is to it really.

These two things are not mutually exclusive.

Dirty Dingus McGee

mosstin wrote: »

These two things are not mutually exclusive.

Sometimes they are.

People always make the argument if it's in the media it means people are automatically interested in the topic.Which is not really true.I read a piece about Clattenburg's tattoo I had no interest in it but I read it because it happened to be something to read as I was strolling through some website, 90% of what I read in the newspaper I don't have much interest in I just read it because it happens to be in the newspaper, I have a feeling a lot of people are like that.

Not one person in the world would feel like they missed out if it wasn't reported on, some media outlets reported on it and some people read about it because it happened to be reported by the media.That's what happens with an awful lot of nonsense stories that appear in newspapers.

mosstin

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Sometimes they are.

People always make the argument if it's in the media it means people are automatically interested in the topic.Which is not really true.I read a piece about Clattenburg's tattoo I had no interest in it but I read it because it happened to be something to read as I was strolling through some website, 90% of what I read in the newspaper I don't have much interest in I just read it because it happens to be in the newspaper, I have a feeling a lot of people are like that.

Not one person in the world would feel like they missed out if it wasn't reported on, some media outlets reported on it and some people read about it because it happened to be reported by the media.That's what happens with an awful lot of nonsense stories that appear in newspapers.

I have no interest in defending Clattenburg - I don't rate him as highly as others - but if he wants to get his tats done, that's his call. Now if you're judging someone a twat because they choose to get tats, I find that a little odd.

mikeym

Delighted

Dirty Dingus McGee

mosstin wrote: »

I have no interest in defending Clattenburg - I don't rate him as highly as others - but if he wants to get his tats done, that's his call. Now if you're judging someone a twat because they choose to get tats, I find that a little odd.

Nothing odd about making judgments about people based on their behaviour. Everybody in the world does it every single day of their life.It's apart of being a human being.It was what he got the tattoo about that I found odd more than actually getting a tattoo.It sounded like the kind of thing a teenager would do, although I absolutely hate tattoo's in general.

He also broke the premier league protocol surrounding traveling to and from a game with his fellow officials so he could attend an Ed Sheeran concert.I am also holding it against him that he's a 40 year old man who likes Ed Sheeran.

He also gas a personalized number plate and puts on ridiculous show offy faces when doing his job as a ref.I'm holding that against him as well and using it to judge his character.It's what people in general do if they don't personally know someone.

mosstin

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Nothing odd about making judgments about people based on their behaviour. Everybody in the world does it every single day of their life.It's apart of being a human being.It was what he got the tattoo about that I found odd more than actually getting a tattoo.It sounded like the kind of thing a teenager would do, although I absolutely hate tattoo's in general.

He also broke the premier league protocol surrounding traveling to and from a game with his fellow officials so he could attend an Ed Sheeran concert.I am also holding it against him that he's a 40 year old man who likes Ed Sheeran.

He also gas a personalized number plate and puts on ridiculous show offy faces when doing his job as a ref.I'm holding that against him as well and using it to judge his character.It's what people in general do if they don't personally know someone.

Christ, judgemental much?

Dirty Dingus McGee

mosstin wrote: »

Christ, judgemental much?

Nothing wrong with being judgemental it's what people do when they don't know someone personally.

mosstin

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Nothing wrong with being judgemental it's what people do when they don't know someone personally.

I imagine you're a bundle of laughs in real life. I'm out.

Dirty Dingus McGee

mosstin wrote: »

I imagine you're a bundle of laughs in real life. I'm out.

That's very judgmental. You can't be doing that.